Apparatus for irrigating land



51V?? 30, I1950 A, B, MclNTYRE 2,509,605

APPARATUS FOR IRRIGATING LAND Filed May 1'7, 1946 Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR IRRIGATING LAND Arthur B. McIntyre, Monterey Park, Calif.

Application May 17, 1946, Serial No. 670,556

(Cl. (i1- 13) 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to systems for irrigating land.

An object of this invention is to provide a device for sub-irrigating land by conducting water beneath the surface of the land rather than letting it now on top of the surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sub-irrigating system which is automatic in operation and is not wasteful of water.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sub-irrigating system which is so designed as to irrigate only a small area of the land or a large area as desired.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an automatic sub-irrigating system which is simple in construction, inexpensive to operate and eiective for gaining maximum yield from the land.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view partly sectionalized and partly in fragment, of my improved irrigating system installed,

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on line 3 3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate similar parts throughout the several views, it will be seen that my irrigation system is installed in the ground indicated generally by 2 and beneath the surface 4. A number of irrigating pipes 6 of suitable diameters are laid at a suitable depth below the surface of the ground and extending along so as to be capable of irrigating the desired tract of land. For a relatively Wide area, it will of course be necessary to use more pipes 6 than would be the case for a relatively narrow area. The pipes 6 are made of porous material so that water running into the pipes 6 will be allowed to leak out of the interior of the pipes to irrigate the surrounding earth. I have found that pipes of a diameter of from three to six inches are satisfactory for this purpose. The pipes are laid in trenches which may be dug by hand or by machine and then are filled up after the pipes are laid.

One of the irrigating pipes Ii, at the extreme left of Figure 1, will also be designated as pipe 8 I2 of a control box I4 which is conveniently formed of rectangular sides I6 and I8 and floor 20 and top member 22 having a manhole at 24 to gain access to the control chamber I2. The balance of the irrigating pipes Ii, such as those to the right of pipe 8 in Figure 1, each terminate into a cylindrical riser box 26 formed of any suitable material, with side walls 28 and bottom member 30, thetop cover 32 being provided with a handle 34 for lifting it to expose the riser chamber 36 inside the box 26.

A water inlet pipe 38 coming from a source of water, extends through a valve 40 and through an aperture 42 in the wall I6, into the interior I2 of the control box I4, thence through an elbow 44 and through a float controlled automatic valve 46 having a float arm 48 pivotally secured at one end to the valve 46 and at the other end having a oat 50 secured to the arm 48. The discharge end of the automatic oat controlled valve 46 is connected through an elbow 52 to a pipe 54 thence through a T coupling 56 and thence through pipe 58 which extends through the other wall I6 of the control box and through the earth and thence through the side walls of the risers 26 in turn. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, T couplings E0 are connected in the pipe 58 as it passes through each riser.

The center leg of T coupling 56 has connected thereto a discharge valve 62 having a discharge outlet 64 so that when the discharge valve 62 is open, water from pipe 54 is discharged into the chamber I2 and iiows out of said chamber into the irrigating pipe 8 from where it is conducted to irrigate the land by leaking out through the porous wall of the pipe.

Similarly, the center legs of the T couplings 60 inside the risers 26 are also connected to discharge 64 having discharge outlets 66 from which, when the discharge valves 64 are open, water is discharged into the risers, ilowing into the open mouths of the irrigating pipes 6, and leaking out through the porous walls of the pipes 6 to irrigate the surrounding ground.

As best seen in Figure 2, the automatic float controlled valve 46 is closed, shutting off the water, when the chamber I2 lls to the high water mark indicated by dotted line 68, and the valve 46 is opened when the chamber I2 is emptied to the low water mark indicated by the dotted line 'I0 just below the bottom of irrigating pipe 8, thus allowing water to ilow through the valve 46 into for convenience, and as shown it terminates at chamber I2 and also through pipe 58 to discharge into the other irrigation pipes 6 as already explained.

This system can be installed on hillsides or on level land and will work satisfactorily, eliminating run off of water, which would otherwise Wash soil and fertilizer away. The fertilizing can be done in the same channels, and I can produce in this manner more crops on one third less land than before, saving half= the labor; andxgetting a more perfectcrop;V Ii can grow alfalfa on hill-l sides with this system, eliminating all the expensive leveling of land.

Although I have described my invention in specic terms, it is to be understood^thatvarious changes may be made in size, shape; materialsr `and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as claimed;

I claim:

In a land irrigating system including a control box` and hollow risers spacedfrom said rcontrol box and' from eachother; said control box and said;risers being sunk into' the groun/dlto a. depth at'which itis desired to supply subsoii irrigating water to the land; a; porous irrigati'ng 'pipe extending substantial]yhorizontally fronrthe lower portion of each riser, a water inlet pipe extend# ing into theupper portionI of said control` box, a oat operated valve in Saidl Water inlet pipe, a valve operating float in said control'box'moved' by the* water levelI in sai'c box to operate said? valve, and a water distributing pipe extending from the lower portion of said control box through the lower portions of said risers, a porous irrigating pipe extending substantially horizontally from said control box, means in said control box connecting said water inlet pipe to said water distributing pipe, a water outlet fitting in said water distributing pipe opening into said control born tosupply water-tosaidzcontrol box to ll saidi-irnigating.; pipe extending from said control box and to operate said float controlled valve, a manually operated regulating valve in said f1tting to vary the rate of flow of water into said control? box, respective outlet fittings in said distributing pipe opening into said risers, and respective manually operated regulating valve"in\ Y ./i

REFERENCES* CITED The following references are of record in; the iil'e of this patent:

UNIT-EDv STATES PATENTS Name` Date Lewisk June 15, 1920 Numberl 

